Reds pitcher Hunter Greene takes a no-hitter into the 7th and shuts out the Cubs

On April 7 at San Francisco, Greene retired the first two batters in the ninth with the Reds leading 2-0. After he allowed a single and a walk, Francona brought on Tony Santillan to get the final out. Greene finished with 104 pitches.

“San Francisco flashed kind of through my mind,” Greene said. “I was telling myself, ‘This is my game’. I told (manager Terry Francona) that next game that I pitched deep into that situation, I wanted to finish it.”

Francona didn’t budge from his dugout chair on Thursday night.

“I didn’t want to try,” the Reds skipper said. “We didn’t even have anyone throwing in the bullpen.”

Greene’s 107th pitch of the night registered 101.5 mph for strike two to Ian Happ, who fanned on five pitches for the final out. Greene had nine strikeouts and one walk. He threw 109 pitches.

Greene retired the first 12 batters until Moises Ballesteros reached on a fielding error to begin the fifth. He didn’t allow a hit until Seiya Suzuki’s two-out double in the seventh.

“The thing that sticks out is that it was 1-0,” Francona said. “There was no wiggle room. Coming off the other day in Sacramento, to back that up the way he did was really impressive.”

In Greene’s last outing on Saturday against the A’s, he allowed five runs and two home runs and pitched a season-low 2 1/3 innings. With the Reds trying to remain in the playoff chase, Greene responded.

“The last game doesn’t define me,” he said. “There are a lot of ups and downs in this sport. I’ve been able to overcome a lot of those over the years.”

Cubs starter Colin Rea matched Greene early but allowed a leadoff double by Austin Hays in the fourth. Hays scored on Will Benson’s double to drive in the game’s only run. Rea had a career-high 11 strikeouts, but it was Greene’s night.

“We were kind of going back and forth and we were having quick innings,” Rea said. “He’s elite. We know how good he is. He threw his hardest pitch in the ninth inning. That’s special.”

The Cubs clinched a postseason berth with an 8-4 victory in Pittsburgh on Wednesday and popped Champagne in the clubhouse afterward. The celebration continued when they arrived in Cincinnati later that night, according to manager Craig Counsell. Facing Greene proved to be a tall order.

“We scratched one run and you hear the music,” Francona said. “And that’s a good ballclub with a good lineup.”

This story has been corrected to show that Seiya Suzuki got the Cubs' first hit in the seventh inning. A previous version stated it was Moises Ballesteros.

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